Chill in Kashmir as cold intensifies, snowfall likely

Srinagar: It was a chilly Wednesday morning here as mercury dipped below the freezing point in most of the parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The weather office has forecast rains and snowfall at some places in the state on Wednesday.

“We are expecting lights rains/snowfall at some places in the state in the next 24 hours. Weather is likely to improve from Saturday morning onwards,” an official of local meteorological office told IANS.

Feeble winter sun struggled to rise through the cloud on Wednesday. “It will be mostly cloudy day ahead in Srinagar city,” the official added.

The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 9.5 degrees Celsius in Srinagar, the official said.

“The minimum overnight temperature recorded in Srinagar city was minus 0.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.”

Famed winter tourist resort of Gulmarg was coldest in the state at minus 11.4 degrees Celsius, and Pahalgam in south Kashmir shivered at minus 6.3 degrees Celsius.

Mercury dipped below the freezing point in Leh and Kargil towns of the Ladakh region.

The minimum temperature was recorded at minus 11.3 degrees in Leh and minus 10.5 degrees Celsius in Kargil on Wednesday. The maximum temperature in both the towns is likely to remain below zero degrees Celsius.

The overnight minimum temperature in Jammu city was 5.6 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 17 degrees Celsius.

In other places of Jammu district, the minimum temperatures were recorded at 5.6 degrees Celsius in Katra town, minus 1.4 degrees in Banihal, 0.3 degrees Celsius in Batote, 2.9 degrees in Udhampur, and minus 1.9 degrees Celsius in Bhaderwah town, the weather office said.